At this year's Sundance, there wasn't much consensus about which films were "good" or "bad." Sure, most people liked The Last Black Man in San Francisco and The Souvenir, but you could just as easily find someone who hated The Lodge as someone who loved it. Ditto for Wounds or To the Stars.
As always, how you feel about a festival depends on what you saw -- and what you couldn't fit into your schedule. I'll catch up with Apollo 11, American Factory, The Sound of Silence and others soon enough. But for now, here's my ranking of what I saw, including links to individual reviews...
25. Wounds
24. Velvet Buzzsaw
23. After the Wedding
22. Honey Boy
21. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
20. Blinded by the Light
19. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
18. Them That Follow
17. Fighting With My Family
16. Birds of Passage
15. Untouchable
14. Native Son
13. Official Secrets
12. Share
11. The Farewell
10. Give Me Liberty
9. Luce
8. Jawline
7. Monos
6. To the Stars
5. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
4. Clemency
3. The Lodge
2. The Souvenir
1. Leaving Neverland
For the second straight year, the best film I saw at Sundance was a harrowing look at child sexual abuse that will eventually air on HBO. I've been asked a lot if Leaving Neverland is "hard to watch." I suppose it is. But, as with all good films, there are ample rewards that make it more than worthwhile. Also, I was thrilled the U.S. Dramatic Jury Prize went to Clemency, a deceptively straightforward drama that grows and builds in beautiful ways. And kudos to World Cinema winner The Souvenir, which A24 will be putting out this year.
